Dutch Unearth Big Geothermal Potential

With the recent failure of geothermal projects in California and Switzerland, where one approach to tapping the earth's heat was found to induce earthquakes, the whole idea of geothermal energy is having some hard knocks. But that doesn't change the essential long-term outlook. Two years ago an MIT study identified huge energy potential in the earth crust's stored heat: By means of enhanced geothermal systems in particular--drilling several wells to reach hot rock and connecting them to a fractured rock region that has been stimulated to let water flow--hot water or steam can be brought to the surface via heat exchangers to drive electricity turbines. Now, in addition, Dutch studies have identified enormous tappable heat reserves found in aquifers at the greater depths where oil and gas companies normally operate.

Holland's Stichting Platform Geothermie finds that after "a spectacular rise in shallow geothermal applications" in the last two decades, now Netherlands "seems set on a similar steep path towards deep geothermal energy use. Exploration license applications have increased from a modest trickle to a torrent of [more than] 50 in the last year, and a major impact is expected from the [government's] new guarantee scheme."